Bridgeport Gallery Hosts Competition for Artists

A look inside the Bridgeport Art Gallery, housed on the fourth floor the massive Bridgeport Arts Center at 1200 W. 35th St. The gallery is soliciting entries for its first-ever art competition.
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DNAinfo/Casey Cora

BRIDGEPORT — The Bridgeport Art Gallery is looking for entries for its first-ever artist’s competition.

Curator Lelde Kalmite said she hopes the competition brings exposure for artists across the city. More than that, she said it will be chance for working artists to make a few extra bucks.

“If it’s just an exhibit that element would be missing,” she said. “The competition brings excitement and a little bit of controversy."

Prizes include a $1,000 award for best in show and $750 for second place, judged by artists Thomas McCormick and Julian Williams. Guests during the Jan. 5 opening reception will vote on a popular favorite, which earns a $500 prize, and Kalmite will select three “Curator’s Choice” picks who will get to show their work in an upcoming show at the Bridgeport Arts Center, 1200 W. 35th St.

Artists 18 and over who live or work within 100 miles are invited to submit their paintings, drawings, graphic art, photography, sculptures, 3D work and other forms of mixed media. Here’s what’s excluded: functional pottery, jewelry, clothing, accessories, furniture, other primarily functional art, or “time-art” like video.

Instructions for applying and uploading work samples an be found at the Bridgeport Art Center’s website. The deadline for submissions in Dec. 15 and artists will be notified by Dec. 22 if their work has made the cut.

Kalmite said she hopes continue the momentum from the reception of her first curated show at the gallery, “Anxious Object: Masterpiece or Junk,” in which local artists turned recycled material into bold works of art.